Goodwill bankruptcy claims adding up

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The owner of J’Adore clothing shop in Malvern Town Centre says he’s not hopeful about getting the nearly $1,400 owed to him by Goodwill Industries of Toronto, Eastern, Northern and Central Ontario.

Elio Pucciano — one of 711 creditors in Goodwill’s Feb. 7 bankruptcy proposal — told me last week he hired three Goodwill people through a six-week government grant program, paid them wages and benefits up front and was never reimbursed by the now defunct Goodwill.

“I never got the money back ... It was always a promise, a promise, a promise,” he said.

He said although one employee was picked up by a YMCA program, also operated with provincial money, the other two were not. His claim is for the cost of wages he paid out.

“It sucks especially in this economy where it’s really tough,” he said. “It’s a lot of money for a little store like us.”

In early February, a Goodwill insider told the Toronto Sun that the $4-million in government funding the organization got from two ministries — Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) and Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) — was often shifted from program to program and other unknown areas, leaving services for disabled clients without proper staff, office supplies or even resources to ensure they were properly groomed for their jobs.

But spokesmen from both MCSS and MTCU have continued to offer assurances the money provided was used for the purposes intended and Goodwill fulfilled its service commitments.

Call after call indicated employers were not paid back. Mohmood Mir, of Ducati Shoes on Orfus Rd, said he’s out more than $4,000 for hiring two Goodwill people, between September and December 2015.

Natalie Elliott of the Blueprint Hair Studio was owed more than $1,000 for employing a Goodwill staffer in December under an MTCU program. She told me the YMCA took over the employee’s file and she should be paid by them.

Of the 711 unsecured creditors, some 158 or 22% are not former employees.

They include small businesses like J’Adore — which hired Goodwill people under government grant programs — landlords, contractors and consultants and even the ministry of community social services and the Region of Peel

There are five dentists listed — many of whom provide cosmetic in additional to general dentistry — with more than $16,000 in total fees owed. I attempted to reach Dr. Robert Lubin (owed $7,143), Dr. Nosenete Bollo-Kamara (owed $2,999.05) and Dr. Eric Domingo ($3,571) to discern exactly what services were provided, but they did not call back.

The Region of Peel — which provided Goodwill with a sweetheart deal over at least 12 years to use three drop-off sites and a reuse store in Brampton — is owed about $34,547.30.

Spokesman Noelle Broughton said the bulk of that money is from the sale of garbage tags, kitchen catchers, rain barrels, composters and recycling bins by Goodwill — on behalf of the region — while operating out of those locations at a very cheap rent.

It appears Goodwill did not pay its 2015 rent either.

MCSS spokesperson Alissa Von Bargen says the $150,000 Goodwill owes the ministry is for grant money advanced to Goodwill in January as well as an “annual reconciliation amount” for 2015 funds not used (evidently they were used but it would seem not on ministry programs.)

Efforts to reach CEO Keiko Nakamura were unsuccessful. When I e-mailed her Friday to ask for comment, she wrote back: “In order for me to understand the context, can you tell me the full listing of topics you are covering in your column?”

I did not get any response to five detailed questions I sent to her Friday afternoon.

Goodwill goes bankrupt

•No of unsecured creditors: 711

• Amount owing: $6 million

•Number of creditors not former staffers: 158 or 22%

•Total owing unsecured creditors not former staffers: $1.7 million or 28%

A legal notice to Goodwill creditors appeared in the newspaper in mid-February.

It indicates the first meeting of creditors will be held March 2 at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts.

It also provides a number — 905-883-8715 — for creditors to call at Pollard & Associates, which a source says is providing trustee services to former Goodwill CEO Keiko Nakamura on a contingency basis.

But when I called the number, I was informed voicemail had not been set up on the line. And very few creditors I spoke with knew about the March 2 meeting.

Efforts to reach trustee Angela Pollard regarding the fee arrangement and lack of notice were unsuccessful.